Utilizaçao de pastagens de estaçao quente com bovinos desmamados precocemente

The experiment was conducted with the aim to evaluate average daily weight gain (DWG), total digestible nutrients intake (TDN) and weight gain per hectare (WG), in summer pastures, by the use of grazing weaned beef calves with 94 days of average age, with an average weight of' 84 kg. The studied pastures were : Tl- native grassland, T2- elephantgrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.), T3- bermudagrass (hybrid of Cynodon dactylon cv. Coastal x Cynodon nlemfluensis var. Robustus) and T4- pearl millet cv. Comum (Pennisetuin americanum (L.) Lecke), during summer/autumn. The pastures were continuously grazed with variable stock rate, and the average residue was 3162, 2735, 2417 and 2505 kg of dry matter per hectare for native grassland, elephantgrass, bermudagrass and pearl millet, respectively. The experiment was totally randomized with two replications. During 83 days, the DWG was 0.012, 0.175, 0.3 14 and 0.257 kg; the WG was of 16, 197, 335 and 3 10 kg /ha and the TDN 617, 1861, 1629 and 1854 kg/ ha for native grassland, elephantgrass, bermudagrass and pearl millet, respectively. The DWG was lower for native grassland, when compared to the seeded pastures.